Homeschooling creatively.

Menu

Biology

The twins have started Biology this year. I wanted to create a class for them that did not involve hours of reading, and one that was engaging to both of my learners. I decided that I would use Khan Academy for the main part of their lessons, but I was not sure what order to watch the films in. I wanted a little structure for this resource, and I soon found what I was looking for.

A homeschool mom has put this curriculum guide together for those wishing to use Khan Academy for biology. It is a very short guide, basically just an outline of the videos to watch, correlated to California standards, with vocab words to know and a short question to answer after every lesson. Again I will state it is very basic, but it is free if you have a kindle and a prime membership, so it is worth a look. For me it was perfect.

In addition to the Khan Academy videos I have scheduled CrashCourse videos which the twins and I love.

From The Home Scientist website – Experience the magic of biology in your own home lab. This hands-on introduction includes more than 30 educational (and fun) lab sessions that let you explore this fascinating field on your own. Perfect for middle- and high-school students and DIY enthusiasts, this full-color guide teaches you the basics of biology lab work and shows you how to set up a safe lab at home. The IllustratedGuidetoHomeBiologyExperimentsis written with the needs of homeschoolers firmly in mind, as well as for adults who are eager to explore the science of nature as a life-long hobby.

At the website you can purchase a lab kit with nearly everything you need to complete the experiments.

In addition to all of these materials we will be adding in living books and some readings from the CK-12 biology flexbook. This textbook is available as a free download, and I have read many good reviews of it.

I believe I have put together a fairly good biology class for the twins. Hopefully they will have a productive time with all these resources. I feel fairly confident that they will.